CAREER: The roles of ecology, behavior, and morphology in maintaining species boundaries- demonstrating evolutionary processes to high school students in Idaho.

保护生物多样性不仅需要了解促成多样化和物种形成的因素，还需要了解使物种保持彼此不同的种群动态。PI将整合一系列的实地和实验室研究，以确定生态，行为和形态因素如何使杂交，但防止广泛的基因流（渐渗）之间的两个物种的woodrat，Neotoma fuscipes和N。大耳草 具体而言，PI将确定遗传渗入的障碍或过滤器在生殖连续体中发生的位置，从相互作用的空间机会到配偶选择、配子转移、存活和生殖成功。PI将把这项研究的各个方面纳入高中外展计划。该计划将在分子遗传技术方面培训当地高中生物教师，并与他们合作，向学生介绍这些技术，并将这些活动纳入课程的其他组成部分。 拟议的研究和教育活动将在科学方法方面培训一批人，特别强调分子遗传学和进化过程。这些人包括来自当地肖肖尼-班诺克部落的高中生、本科生、博士生和生物学教师。 该推广计划将成为高中和大学之间的典范合作伙伴关系，以成本效益的方式让学生接触现代分子遗传学和进化研究。

The conservation of biodiversity requires an understanding not only of the factors that contribute to diversification and speciation but also of the population dynamics that allow species to remain distinct from one another. The PI will integrate a series of field and lab studies to identify how ecological, behavioral, and morphological factors enable hybridization but prevent widespread gene flow (introgression) between two species of woodrat, Neotoma fuscipes and N. macrotis. Specifically, the PI will identify where the barriers or filters to genetic introgression occur in the continuum of reproduction from spatial opportunity for interaction, to mate choice, gamete transfer, survivorship and reproductive success. The PI will incorporate aspects of this research into a high school outreach program. This program will train local high school biology teachers in molecular genetic techniques and collaborate with them to present these techniques to their students and integrate these activities into other components of the curriculum. The proposed research and educational activities will train a continuum of individuals in the scientific method with special emphasis on molecular genetics and evolutionary processes. These individuals include high school students from the local Shoshone-Bannock tribe, undergraduates, PhD students, and biology teachers. The outreach program will be a model partnership between high schools and universities, cost-efficiently exposing students to modern molecular genetics and evolutionary research.